


statements from another life

by orchid_spiral



Category: Pro Wrestling Guerrilla, Professional Wrestling, Progress Wrestling, SHINE Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/M, M/M, Murder, Police Procedural, Second Person, Torture, a ton of exposition, in-universe cop show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 06:15:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6692839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orchid_spiral/pseuds/orchid_spiral
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After one of their own vanished nearly a year ago, the team finally get answers. But those answers aren't what anyone expected, especially when the team get drawn into a tangled web surrounding two vicious serial killers. When another team member is abducted by the killers, will the team be able to hold together long enough to pull off a rescue? Tonight, on Boston P.D.</p>
            </blockquote>





	statements from another life

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here we are. I've been working on this monster for a couple of months now. Sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything, but this behemoth's been taking a lot of my time, among other things. Originally, this was going to be a five-chapter series involving a core pairing in five different in-universe formats (cop show, book, video game, film and different crime series) but unfortunately, most of them didn't work out, leaving me with the cop show and the different crime series as plausible fics. If I've failed to tag something, please tell me so I can fix it. I hope you guys like it, and thank you for reading.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime, and you know you’re never going to forget it: you and nineteen other fans have won the chance to see the two-part third season finale of _Boston P.D._ a week before it airs. This is the rough, unedited version, but that’s even better because you’ll get to see it before they cut it down.  
  
In fact, you’ve become a little infamous among fans, because when you took the verbal quiz that constituted the entry, you rattled off each answer in seconds without even needing time to think about it, causing a few to believe that you were a plant, or that you’d been given the questions beforehand. _As if_. You’re still feeling insulted by that suggestion.  
  
And you’re definitely not ashamed of how intense your love for the show is. _Boston P.D._ is your all-time favourite show. You’ve seen every episode at least three times. You know all the trivia. You’ve read all the interviews with the cast and crew. This show is your _life._  
  
OK, maybe that last bit is a bit of an exaggeration. But you’re so excited you can barely sit still, because this is the highlight of your year, to say the least.  
  
You got to meet most of the main cast and several of the producers as part of the prize, and they’re all sitting behind you and the other fans, talking quietly amongst themselves as the crew get the TV set up. Since it’s obviously going to be a little while before the show starts, you while away the time by recalling the show’s overall plot, because there’s undoubtedly going to be quite a few callbacks to previous episodes- in fact, there might even be a few cameos from old characters, and you don’t want to forget anything.  
  
_Boston P.D._ tells the story of four Boston detectives who, after a reshuffle of the division, found themselves the outcasts who nobody wanted to partner with. After some consideration, they were thrown together as an impromptu squad and assigned to both the cold cases and the cases nobody else wanted. Due to their differing backgrounds and attitudes, the four initially struggled to get along and make things work, but ultimately, they managed to solve most of their cases and did much better than anyone imagined.  
  
Most of season one was about the four trying to mesh with each other and do their jobs right. Unfortunately, given that they consisted of Will Ospreay, an English cop who’d moved to America under a cloud and had a lot of trouble adjusting; Sasha Banks, a Boston native who’d become infamous for being loud, outspoken, confronting and unwilling to compromise; Zack Sabre Jr, an English former FBI liaison who’d had a _very_ bad relationship with the department’s former captain and thus was largely shunned; and Candice LeRae, a Canadian migrant who’d allegedly had ties to various criminal enterprises, there was a _lot_ of clashing going on, both in their methodology and in their personalities. But they’d managed to perform well, and they put in a sterling performance in the season one finale, when two senior cops and an assistant DA were held hostage by a group of criminals with a vendetta against cops. The team rescued them easily, proving a lot of people wrong.  
  
Season two started with the fallout of the season one finale: originally the team had been flying under the radar, with nobody willing to put in the energy to give a damn about them, but their rise to prominence led to people taking interest in them. There was talk of promotions, of transferring some of them to other divisions, of splitting them up. The team resisted fiercely, but as they continued to solve cases, their star continued to shine brighter and brighter, and by the time the season finale rolled around, the attention they gained proved to be very bad indeed: a number of people with bones to pick with them came out of the woodwork. A lot of accusations were thrown around relating to various things the team had done in the past, all of which were disproved, but things got worse when a murder charge was laid against Candice. All were disproved, but Candice wound up with a choice: leave the force amicably, or stay, but have the charge still hanging over her. Despite the team’s objections, Candice quit- and then completely vanished without so much as a word to anyone, ending season two on a bad note.  
  
Season three didn’t start out much better. The team were still reeling over Candice’s disappearance when they got another shock to the system. They were handed a new team member, and he wasn’t nearly as easy-going as Candice: Marty Scurll, another English expat who’d switch from helpful and amiable to snarky and shit-stirring on a whim. Zack initially outright refused to so much as be in the same room with him, to the point that he forced the team to switch around, with Will taking on Marty as his new partner. As time progressed and the team gradually adapted to Marty’s presence, it became apparent that Zack and Marty had known each other for some time and had some kind of history, though both declined to talk about it- and in the last episode, Marty offered to bury the undescribed hatchet, with Zack refusing, even going so far as to state that he was just waiting for an excuse to get Marty off the team.  
  
So this episode is going to be a damn interesting one, to say the least.  
  
While you were reminiscing over the story, the crew finally got the TV set up. You snap back to the present as the director finishes making his remarks- you missed most of it, but from the rest, you’re guessing it was something along the lines of ‘Here’s the season three finale, we spent a lot of time on this and it was all worth it, and we hope you all enjoy it’.  
  
The lights dim. The show’s logo appears on the screen. And you are about to lose your freaking mind.  
  
Admittedly, the episode doesn’t exactly start with a bang: the first thing you see is what seems to be an orchard near a hill: long lines of orange trees, no one in sight, just a peaceful pastoral scene. The scene then abruptly changes to show someone walking up the hill, though you can’t tell who it is- they’ve got the hood of their sweatshirt up, and the camera’s viewing them from behind.

Once the person reaches the top, they step into the cover of a nearby tree and lift a pair of binoculars to their eyes. The camera switches to the view through the binoculars- a highway, with cars speeding along- but nothing seems to be happening, and you aren’t sure what you should be focusing on.

Well, that is, until the camera abruptly fixes on a nondescript green SUV. You’re expecting it to explode, but the SUV continues down the road without delay.

The camera slowly moves around to a side view of the mysterious person, who pulls a notepad out of their pocket and writes something down. Then they pull their hood back as the camera moves around to a front view and you nearly shriek, because she’s _Candice fucking LeRae_ , and you could have _sworn_ that she’d left the show for good. 

Holy _shit._  
  
As the credits roll, you look around, and note that most of the other fans are shooting each other grins, whispers and amazed looks. You can’t blame them at all. You can barely restrain your excitement.  
  
The credits finish and you snap back to the screen. The episode’s name appears: “Requiem, Part One”. Shit. Sounds grim. You hope nobody dies. Well, you hope nobody you like dies. Though given her abrupt return, you’re guessing that it’d most likely be Candice, and the thought of her getting killed off is disturbing, to say the least.  
  
The episode proper starts in the team’s communal office. Zack, Sasha and Will are leaning on their desks, talking about… you have no idea what they’re talking about, actually.  
  
“Worst I had were some morons back home who tried raising the dead a few times,” Will says with a laugh.  
  
Will Ospreay. The rookie English cop who’d become a rookie American cop after apparently doing _something_ that had got him- well, not thrown out as such, but had resulted in people putting pressure on him to leave. Rather than quit, he’d headed over to America, where he’d been promptly treated as a rookie and given a lot of hazing and not a lot of respect until he’d been made a part of the squad, who treated him as an equal and soon learned about his skills. Despite his fresh-faced eagerness, Will had more than once shown that he was smart and devious and very skilled, much to the fandom’s delight.  
  
“Raising the dead?” Sasha asks with a snort. “Seriously?”  
  
Sasha Banks. The Boston native whose motto was ‘My way or the highway’, and would steamroller over anyone who objected. Nobody pushed Sasha around, but in turn it’d made her quite a few enemies, thus resulting in her getting made a part of the squad. A lot of the early fights had come from Sasha attempting to take charge or decide something over others’ objections, until she’d finally been convinced to try a more democratic view. Despite that- and contrary to what _some_ fans think- she’s a hell of a character.  
  
“That’s the thing about being a rookie,” Will replies. “You get given all the really, really stupid cases. You know, serial flashers, hysterics who scream that the apocalypse is nigh in the middle of the street, stuff like that. I know a lot of people who joined up thinking it’d be like on TV, and most of them quit when they kept getting assigned to the really stupid stuff.”  
  
“And then you came over here and got exactly the same thing,” Sasha says wryly. “Must have been annoying.”  
  
Will shrugs. “I proved my worth. We all did. And it’s worked out, hasn’t it?”  
  
Zack smirks. “Hang on. Who exactly was trying to raise the dead?”  
  
Zack Sabre Jr. The straight-laced, emotionally distant team leader who ran the team with an iron hand. He’d absolutely despised the previous captain, Roddy Strong, and Strong had returned the feeling, leading to the two of them fighting often enough that Zack nearly got kicked out before Captain Barrett took over. The fanbase collectively decided that Zack had some kind of secret or tragic past, and they’ve been fighting for three seasons over what the most likely option is- everything from a dead SO to being betrayed by someone. Since Marty arrived on the scene, the theory mill has gone wild. It’s fun as hell.  
  
“Bunch of clowns from a university. You know how it is. First year, straight out of school, dumb kids join a secret society, get caught up in this magic crap, then they start doing ‘secret rituals’ and start believing they’ve actually got superpowers,” Will replies, shaking his head.  
  
“I remember a couple of years ago, we had this guy who kept getting these life-sized dolls that were meant to look like kids, dressing them up so unless you got close, they really did look like real kids, and throwing them into intersections in rush hour,” Sasha says, and you wince. Sounds like a nightmare.  
  
“ _What?_ ” Will exclaims. “Why the hell did he do that?”

Sasha grimaces. “Crazy artist. He said it was some kind of metaphor for how nobody cares about their kids anymore and society has failed them by letting kids go out alone when there’s people out there who’ll hurt them.”  
  
“That’s ridiculous,” Zack says. “People have always hurt kids. Doesn’t matter when or where, there’s always some sick bastard who’ll see a kid as a perfect victim.”  
  
Sasha shrugs. “No point in trying to convince him. He kept going on about how it was a perfect depiction of the callous minds of modern-day society, or some crap like that. He got convicted for behaviour causing a public disturbance, and the whole time he was acting like he thought he was a martyr who’d slagged off a tyrant and was going to get executed for it or something.”  
  
“Oh, God, I _hate_ people like that,” Will mutters.  
  
“Ah, well, don’t we all,” Captain Barrett says from the doorway.  
  
Wade Barrett. The English officer in charge of the team, who mostly helped but occasionally hindered. A happy man who was usually in a good mood, he was known for his catch phrase: “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news!” One only needed to see him say it once to know that his actor was having a ball with the part. The fourth prominent English cast member, too. You remember someone on the official forum explaining that the show was created by two different companies working together, one English, one American, hence why there’s so many English people in the cast.  
  
“I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news, lads, Sasha,” Barrett says. “You have a new case.”  
  
He holds out a folder to Sasha, who takes it, opens it and looks at the contents, her expression unchanging.  
  
“Once your much-loved fourth member arrives, you need to get to work on that,” Barrett says. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.” He nods briskly and leaves.  
  
Sasha hands the folder over to Zack, who takes it, scans it briskly and shakes his head in disgust. “Where the hell is he?”

 

  
  
The scene cuts to the autopsy room, where three people are seated in the corner, laughing about something.  
  
“And then I said, ‘It’s only that way when _she_ tries it!’” Marty says to a roar of laughter from his companions.  
  
Marty Scurll. The wildcard member of the team, the ill-fated replacement for Candice who’d never quite fit in. Instantly recognisable because of his man-bun and sunglasses, Scurll spends half of his time helping and the other half making jokes at everyone else’s expense. The fandom’s rather divided over him, splitting into pro-LeRae, anti-Scurll; pro-Scurll, anti-LeRae; and pro-everyone else shutting the hell up and just enjoying the show, for God’s sake, anti-arguing.  
  
His companions are Bayley Rose and Christina von Eerie. Christina’s the punk-rock coroner, the scientist with a huge green Mohawk and piercings she never takes out, even when she’s working on a corpse. She’s also got a sugar addiction, as anyone could tell from the jar of candy on a nearby shelf and the big, insanely colourful lollipop she’s halfway through. You have no idea how the hell anyone could get away with either of those things while working as a coroner, but hey, the show’s better off for it.

Bayley’s a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, a knowledge junkie who reads up on everything from hacking to fingerprint identification. She normally works with the Forensics team, but the team often asks her for her opinion on various science-related things because she’s more knowledgeable than they are. And she’s also one of the happiest people on the planet, to the point that half the fanbase thinks that Forensics spend half their time working on evidence and the rest of their time making various kinds of drugs right under the cops’ noses.  
  
Marty grins at their laughter and holds up a hand. “That’s not even counting-”  
  
The phone buzzes and Christina stands, takes a few deep breaths and walks over to pick it up. “Hello, Autopsy.”  
  
There’s a murmur of conversation from the other end and Christina nods, says ‘Uh huh’ and puts the phone down. “Marty, you’ve got a case.”  
  
Marty sighs. “Wonderful. Just when things were getting good. All right then, ladies, we’ll have to resume this another time. Sorry.”  
  
Bayley waves him off. “Don’t worry about it, Marty. You’d better get up there before Zack gets mad.”  
  
“I hear and obey, Caesar,” Marty says with a mock bow, and you can’t help but smile.

 

  
  
The scene cuts back to the office. Sasha and Will are seated at their desks while Zack stands in front of them at the board. He opens his mouth to speak, only for Marty to walk in without knocking.  
  
“Sorry I’m late,” Marty says with an apologetic grin. “Hope I didn’t miss anything.”  
  
Zack gives him a look that could melt steel, but says nothing. Instead, he waits for Marty to sit down and then starts.  
  
“Our victim is Victor Jones, aged forty-five, a Boston native,” Zack says, pinning a photo of a middle-aged white man with short dark hair and dark eyes to the board. “He went missing three days ago. His body was found early this morning, dumped near the I-93 close to the reservation. He lived alone, no family anywhere nearby, no record of any relationships. He worked as a delivery-man, shipping produce to supermarkets. His truck was found at his home where he usually parked it, but the keys were in the ignition.”  
  
“So someone grabbed him when he was about to leave for work?” Will asks.  
  
Zack shrugs. “Possible. Crime scene officers haven’t touched his house yet. Will, you two go there and take a look around. Sasha and I will head to where the body was found. Any questions?”  
  
Nobody speaks.  
  
Zack nods. “Good. Let’s get going.”

 

  
  
The scene cuts to Zack’s car: he’s driving, Sasha sitting in the passenger’s seat, singing along to the radio- some pop song you don’t know. It’s only a few seconds later when Zack’s phone buzzes. He picks it up out of the drink holders and glances down at the screen… and his eyes widen in disbelief, his hand reflexively jerking the steering wheel.

  
“Zack!” Sasha screeches, grabbing the wheel and twisting it back. After a few complicated seconds, the car comes to a stop on the side of the road, people in the cars around them honking their horns and shouting angrily.  
  
Sasha stares at him, furious, and throws her hands up. “What the hell?”  
  
Zack just holds out the phone.  
  
Sasha dubiously takes it, looks down at the screen and gasps. She looks up, wild-eyed, reads whatever the text says again, and then looks back at Zack, and you curse the obvious baiting.  
  
“I’m going,” he says flatly.  
  
“Then I’m coming with you,” Sasha says just as flatly.  
  
“We have to go to the dump site-”  
  
“Screw that,” Sasha snarls. “You’re not leaving me out of this.”  
  
Zack points down at his phone. “It says me. Not you and me, not Will. Just me.”  
  
“What if it’s a trap?” Sasha asks pointedly. 

Zack frowns, looks down at the phone, types something and hits send. A few seconds later, the phone buzzes. Zack reads it, nods and hands it to Sasha. “See?”

“Fine,” Sasha snaps, glaring at him.  
  
“I promise,” he says quietly. “I promise you, I will tell you everything once I get back.”  
  
“You’d better,” Sasha says, her stare intense.  
  
“We’d better turn around,” he comments. “You’ll need your car.”  
  
Sasha nods, but oh, she looks pissed.

 

 

  
The scene then cuts to Will and Marty in Will’s car. There’s no noise, no chatter, not even the radio. The silence is eerie.  
  
Will’s intensely focused on the road, but he gets points for not jumping or twitching when Marty says quietly, “Can I ask you something?”  
  
“Sure,” Will says.  
  
“Tell me about Candice,” Marty requests, and you blink. That was not what you were expecting, to say the least.  
  
Will gives him a long look for a second, before turning back to the road. “Why do you ask?”  
  
“Because I’ve been here for months and I still don’t even know anything about her,” Marty says. “Normally I don’t care about who’s come before me, but everyone acts like there’s some giant mystery involved. I’m curious.”  
  
Will nods pensively, pausing for a long, almost awkward moment before he replies. “Tell you what: I’ll tell you about Candice if you tell me why Zack hates you so much.”  
  
“Ooh,” Marty comments dryly. “Now there’s a tough question.”  
  
“I know you two worked together once,” Will says, ignoring Marty’s response. “Then something went wrong, Zack ended up here and eventually, so did you. What happened?”  
  
You’re on the edge of your seat. This is one of the big questions the fandom’s been all over like a rash, and you can hardly wait for Marty to answer.  
  
Marty nods thoughtfully, leans back in his seat and looks pensive. “Well, I suppose that’s a fair trade. You have a deal.”  
  
“So what happened?” Will asks again.  
  
Marty smiles at him, and it’s a rakish smile that makes you think he’s up to no good. “Well, young William, it’s quite simple. As you said, we did work together for quite some time. Zack hates me because I know where the bodies are buried. And that scares the everloving hell out of him.”  
  
He folds his arms and nods decisively; obviously, he’s not going to say anymore. Bastard. You’re this close to shouting ‘That’s not an answer!’ at the screen.  
  
Will doesn’t take the hint, though. “Where the bodies are buried? Do you mean that literally or metaphorically?”  
  
“Oh, metaphorically,” Marty says casually. “And he knows where mine are, too. But suffice to say, Will, we could both easily damn each other. And Zack Sabre Jr is not a man who reacts well to that.”  
  
Will seems to have got the hint now. He nods. “All right.”  
  
“Now, tell me about Candice, please,” Marty requests.  
  
“What do you know?” Will asks.  
  
Marty shrugs. “She was my predecessor, she’s Canadian, there was some kind of massive chaos last year and she left, and since then she hasn’t contacted you.”  
  
Will nods again. “Pretty much. What do you want to know?”  
  
“She was a good cop?”  
  
“The best. We all trusted her to get the job done and watch our backs and she always came through.”  
  
“So what happened last year?”  
  
“A lot of old accusations came back to haunt us. Candice was accused of killing a man who’d surrendered, a few months before the team was formed. She said he’d lunged at her with a knife; her partner wasn’t in the room at the time and there was no video, so no proof either way. Not enough to convict her, but enough for a lot of people to start looking at her very closely. From what I heard, the higher-ups told her that she had a choice: keep being a cop, but with a bad reputation that she’d never be able to shake, or quit and have everyone think she did it, but she’d be out of there.”  
  
“So she quit?”  
  
Will nods. “She quit. She didn’t say anything to any of us about it, either. We were all out of the office; we got back and she was gone. No note, nothing.”  
  
“And she’s missing?” Marty asks.  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“When you say missing, do you mean she was abducted?”  
  
“No. Well, maybe. We know she went back to her apartment, but then… nothing. She packed a couple of bags and just vanished. Nobody’s seen her, she hasn’t contacted anyone, it’s like she just disappeared off the face of the earth.”  
  
“Damn. Yeah, I get you. How’d everyone else take it?”  
  
“Badly,” Will admits. “She was Zack’s old partner, they were really close. He’s been really cut up about it.”  
  
“Were they together?” Marty asks.  
  
You perk up. You’ve always shipped LeSabre. Even though they never showed that much on-screen sexual tension, you are adamant that it has a strong basis in canon.  
  
Will looks startled. “What, Zack and Candice? I don’t think…” He thinks about it for a bit and then shrugs. “Well, I guess they could have been. Maybe. If they were, they were very discreet. I don’t think I ever saw them acting like there was anything between them.”

Hmmm.  
  
“I guess all this makes sense now,” Marty says. “I mean, I always thought that Zack just hated the idea of having me as his partner. But since his old partner disappeared like that… yeah. I get it.”  
  
Will nods. “Actually, since we’re talking about it, can I ask something?”  
  
“Go for it.”  
  
“You and Zack used to work together. Did anything like this ever happen then? Someone just up and vanished, no trace?”  
  
Marty thinks about it for a few seconds and shakes his head. “No. Not that I can remember.”  
  
“Well, there goes that idea,” Will says, shrugging.  
  
“Of course, I haven’t worked with him his whole life,” Marty says. “It could have happened some time before or after me.”  
  
“All right,” Will says with a nod. “What was that address again?”  
  
Marty checks his phone. “We’re about a block away. Turn right.”  
  
Will nods and twists the wheel, and you curse the writers.

  
  
The scene cuts over to Sasha, who’s just got out of her car. Cops and officials stand around in groups of two or three, talking, while in the background, someone wheels a gurney away, the body bag on it stark black against the lush grass.

“Detective Banks,” someone says from behind her. Sasha blinks, turns and comes face to face with another cop, an Asian man with brown hair. “I’m Officer Liang. My team have been examining the scene.” 

Sasha nods and holds out a hand. They shake, and Liang raises his eyebrows. “Pardon me, but shouldn’t there be two of you?”

Sasha frowns a little. “My partner ran into an emergency. I don’t know if he’ll make it here before everything’s settled. What can you tell me?”

Liang nods. “Well, to start, I can tell you that the victim was _not_ killed here. This was merely the dump site.”

“Right. What happened to him?”

“He was abducted three days ago. In that time, he was violently tortured. His killers mostly used knives. Shallow cuts, but they would have hurt like a bitch.”

You shudder.

“So more than one killer?”

“Definitely. We identified two different sets of footprints, so two at the least. There could be more, but we haven’t found anything to support that, so we’re going on the assumption that there’s only two killers.”

“How did he die? Was it blood loss from all those cuts?”

“Not from _those_ cuts, no. From what I’ve seen, I’m guessing that the killers eventually got bored and cut his throat. Then they dumped him here.”

“Interesting choice of sites.”

“That’s right.”

Sasha turns in a slow circle, looking at the surroundings with narrowed eyes. “It’s far enough away from the road that the body would have been easy to miss, but at the same time, if the killers wanted to really hide the body, this was a bad place to do it.”

Liang nods, quiet.

Sasha walks over to a patch of rust-stained grass and squints down at it. “There’s nothing around but trees and grass; there’s nothing significant here. The body would have stood out. OK, the cars on the road could easily have passed by without seeing it, but anyone who did look over here would have easily spotted it."  
  
“Yeah. But the body was dumped somewhere around three AM. This road gets very little traffic around that time; the next few people to drive down it would likely have been focusing on the road, not on the surroundings, and there would have been virtually no light," Liang points out.  
  
“OK,” Sasha says. “So what it sounds like is that the killers dumped the body here because they knew in all likelihood, the body wouldn’t be found until dawn at least. That gave them enough time to get away, and they didn’t care if the body was found.”  
  
“Sounds like it.”  
  
  
  
The camera cuts to Marty and Will, walking into the victim’s house. It’s dark, quiet, not disturbed at all. It’s just an average house.  
  
“Doesn’t look like anyone’s been in here,” Will comments, stepping into the kitchen. “Everything seems to be in order.”  
  
“I hate these places,” Marty mutters. “Always feels like someone’s watching me.”

Will pauses and glances over at him. “Like who?”

Marty shrugs. “I don’t know.”  
  
Their movements become a montage as they check everything from the answering machine to the victim’s calendar, but nothing turns up. They’re in the victim’s bedroom when Marty calls out.  
  
“Will! I got something.”  
  
Will turns around. “What?”  
  
Marty holds up a bound book. “Journal. Or diary. Whatever you want to call it.”  
  
“Anything in it?” Will asks excitedly.  
  
“Give me a second,” Marty says, flipping through it. A short while later, he grins. “Aha!”  
  
“What?”  
  
“The last entry is from the night before he was abducted. He says he thinks someone was following him home when he went out to dinner that night. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a good look, but he _thinks_ they might have black hair.”  
  
“So the killer stalked the victim,” Will says.  
  
“Maybe. We know they followed him once. They might have done it before without being noticed- or maybe it was a one-time thing. Maybe he or she wanted to make sure they knew where he was before they grabbed him.”  
  
“Yeah, that’s plausible.”  
  
“Actually… oh. He wrote that he hadn’t gone out to dinner for some time. If the killer was watching him, maybe the change in routine shook them.”  
  
“All right. We’re taking that with us. You find anything else?”  
  
Marty shakes his head. “Nothing.”  
  
“Me either. Let’s go.”  
  
  
  
  
The scene then cuts to Zack, who’s pulling into the parking area of what looks like a big park. You can see playground equipment in the distance and lots of picnic tables and chairs nearby, but there’s no one else around. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barks.  
  
Candice is leaning against one of the picnic tables, sunglasses on, hood up, a duffel bag on the seat behind her. As Zack pulls in, she smiles again.  
  
Candice LeRae. The mysterious one. Zack’s old partner, who’d hated Captain Strong as much as he had. The heart of the team, the one who always managed to get everyone to stop fighting, and usually managed to piece the clues together and see what everyone else had missed, but who was always tough and reliable in a crisis. Christ, you’ve missed her.  
  
Zack emerges from the car, slams the door shut and pauses. Candice pulls her sunglasses off and flicks her hood back, and he sucks in a breath, like he hadn’t believed it was her until then.  
  
For a second, they just look at each other, and then Zack practically runs over to her and grabs her up in a very tight hug.  
  
Oh, yeah, those two are so totally fucking. You smile smugly.  
  
It takes you a while to realise that Zack’s whispering something. You listen hard and eventually make it out: he’s saying ‘Thank God, you’re OK’ over and over. For a bit, they just stay there, embracing.  
  
Candice pulls away abruptly. “We need to get down to business, Zack.”  
  
He shakes his head. “Business is later. Where the _hell_ have you been? Why did you leave like that?”  
  
“OK, we’re gonna be here for a while,” Candice says with a sigh. “Sit down, Zack.”  
  
He sits down across from her, holding her hand like he’s afraid that if he lets go, she’ll vanish. She doesn’t seem annoyed.  
  
She looks at him archly and then shrugs. “Ask away.”  
  
Zack opens his mouth to speak, closes it again and swallows. Then he manages a coherent sentence: “Where the hell have you _been?_ ”  
  
“Tracking,” Candice replies simply.  
  
“Tracking _what?_ ”  
  
“That would be a business question.”  
  
“But- right, fine, whatever. Why did you quit?”  
  
“Two reasons,” Candice replies. “First, I didn’t want to stay if that stupid charge was gonna follow me around all the time. I told the truth, Zack. It’s not my fault that my moron of a partner didn’t witness it.”  
  
“I believe you,” Zack says. “I always did.”  
  
She smiles again. “Thanks.”  
  
“Second reason?”  
  
“Is another business question.”  
  
“So why leave like you did?” Zack asks. “We were all worried sick. We thought you were dead.”  
  
“Because ‘Candice LeRae, missing person’ worked a lot better for me than ‘Candice LeRae, former cop’,” Candice says. “I spent most of the time disguised, too.”  
  
“You could have contacted us,” Zack says. “Anything. Even one line telling me you’re OK.”  
  
Candice shook her head. “Couldn’t risk it.”  
  
“OK, fine. Tell me about this business. What were you doing?”  
  
Candice leans forward, all humour gone from her face. “You remember the Thompson case?”  
  
You do. The Thompson case was one of the cases the team tackled in season one, notable because it was one of the few where they didn’t find out who did it. You remember it clearly, but you have no idea how it ties into this.  
  
Zack nods, looking as confused as you are. “Yeah?”  
  
“I know you’re on the Jones case,” Candice says quietly. “The same people were behind them both.”  
  
Zack stares at her incredulously. “What?”  
  
“We’ve got a pair of serial killers, Zack,” Candice replies. “They were behind one of my old cold cases back in Canada, too. I’ve spent this entire time tracking them down.”  
  
“All right, but hang on,” Zack says. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why go so far under the radar? We could have helped-”  
  
“They’ve killed cops before, Zack,” Candice says quietly.  
  
Zack pauses.  
  
“One of them is a hacker. They monitor everything logged about their kills. Three times now they’ve gone back and killed a cop who got too close.”  
  
“So you couldn’t risk it,” Zack says, nodding.  
  
“Yeah. But I’ve been careful. Being a missing cop gave me a great alibi.”  
  
“Do you have evidence?”  
  
“Not much,” Candice admits. “That is, not that much on the past killings. Not enough to get a conviction. But the Jones one? Yeah, I’ve got enough to get a warrant at least. It’s why I came back- first time I get hard evidence and it’s right back in Boston. Almost like a sign.”  
  
Zack smiles at that. He thinks for a moment and then nods. “We should get back to headquarters. You can brief us all there.”  
  
Candice nods back, and they walk back to the car.  
  
  
  
  
The scene switches to the two of them in the car. Zack’s driving, and both are silent.  
  
A few seconds pass before Zack breaks the silence. “Feels good to have you back in the passenger seat.”  
  
“I missed it,” Candice admits. “You tell anyone you were going to meet me?”  
  
“Just Sasha,” he replies. “She was in the car with me when I got your text.”  
  
Candice frowns. “Sasha was?”  
  
“She’s my new partner,” Zack says.  
  
“Sasha? But… who exactly replaced me?”  
  
Zack pulls the car over and puts the brake on. Then he sighs. “Marty Scurll.”  
  
Candice looks confused for a second, and then her eyes widen. “Marty Scurll? The same guy who-”  
  
“That’s right.”  
  
“Holy…”  
  
“You said it.”  
  
“No wonder you switched partners,” Candice says after a second.  
  
You’re about ready to throw something. Damn it, you want to know what he did!  
  
Zack nods. He opens his mouth to speak, but his phone buzzes. He checks it and scowls. “They’re waiting for me.”  
  
“Then we should get back quick,” Candice says.  
  
They speed off, and you mutter a curse under your breath.  
  
  
  
  
  
“Damn it! Where the hell is Zack?” Will exclaims furiously.  
  
They’re back at the office. Sasha’s drumming her fingers on the desk, Marty’s leaning back in his chair, looking amused, and Will’s pacing furiously. Barrett’s shooting the occasional glare at Marty in between checking his phone.  
  
“Sasha,” Barrett says slowly and deliberately, “I think it’s about time you told us where he went, don’t you?”  
  
Will and Marty turn to Sasha, who grits her teeth. “Sir, I-”  
  
“Now, please,” Barrett says.  
  
“See for yourself,” Zack says from the door.  
  
All four turn and freeze: Candice walks in beside Zack and smiles. “Hey, guys. Long time, no see.”  
  
“Motherfu-”  
  
“ _Candice!”_  
  
Will and Sasha practically break the land speed record in their urge to get to the door. Candice embraces them both and barely manages to avoid getting knocked to the floor in the process.  
  
The ensuing mess takes several minutes to get everyone untangled, back at their desks and quiet. Once they are, Barrett holds up a hand. “Candice, I think it’s time you explained exactly where you’ve been.”  
  
Candice nods. “Before I do, can we get Bayley and Christina up here? I need their opinions as well as yours.”  
  
“Cryptic,” Barrett says. “All right. Will, call them.”  
  
It’s not long before Christina and Bayley walk in, see Candice and promptly lose their shit. It takes just as long to get them quiet, too.  
  
“Now that we’ve all got that finished,” Barrett asks tartly, “Candice, would you like to explain exactly where you’ve been?”  
  
She nods and searches through her duffel bag, pulling out a folder from which she takes some pieces of paper. “I need all of you to read this and tell me what you think.”  
  
She hands out the sheets and waits quietly as everyone reads. It doesn’t take them long, and most of them seem to get the idea.  
  
“Jesus,” Will whispers, looking up from the sheet. “How did we never notice this?”  
  
“Because they vary the method used each time, and they’re smart. They never go back to the same state,” Candice replies. “Well, that and they’ve killed every cop who even got close to making the same conclusion.”  
  
“Killed?” Marty asks, raising his eyebrows.  
  
“On the back,” Candice says.  
  
Everyone flips their sheet over and reads quickly.  
  
“Not the same M.O.,” Sasha comments. “One was shot, one run over and the last stabbed. What makes you think they were involved?”  
  
“Because all of them were investigating the crimes, and all of them had concluded that they were serial killings,” Candice explains. “Problem is, one- or maybe both- of the killers is a damn good hacker. They keep an eye on the investigations into their murders, and if a cop gets too close, they get killed a few days later. The methods are different enough that nobody is going to instantly conclude that they’re serial killings. They don’t target the same kind of people, they don’t use the same method of torture, they’ve disposed of the bodies everywhere from lakes to dumpsters. These guys are _smart_.”  
  
“And they’re who you’ve been tracking,” Will says.  
  
Candice nods. “A former cop looking for them would draw their attention. A former cop who’d been declared missing and who didn’t use official channels went right under their radar.”  
  
“Smart,” Christina comments. “Good job.”  
  
Candice smiles a little. “Thanks.”  
  
“OK, Candice, you’ve convinced me,” Barrett says. “So why don’t you tell us who we’re looking for?”  
  
Candice nods, grabs her bag and walks up to the board. “The first guy is an English migrant. Well, migrant might be pushing it. I know he’s moved here permanently, but not how he got here, because nobody matching his description’s come in legally. He’s only been here for about four years. The killings started about six months after he first turned up. I don’t know what his real name is, but he calls himself-” and she reaches into the bag, pulls out a large, glossy photo and pins it to the board, “Jimmy Havoc.”  
  
The camera zooms in on the photo, which shows a tall white man wearing a crisp white shirt and black pants. He looks annoyed, but he’s not looking at the camera, so you’re guessing he didn’t know someone was taking photos of him. He’s got black hair with a fringe that makes him look like a My Chemical Romance wannabe, bright blue eyes, and… oh, Jesus, he’s wearing black nail-polish. Seriously?  
  
“That fringe is a crime against hair,” Christina comments. “And the nail-polish? That’s so clichéd.”  
  
Candice snorts, but her expression soon returns to serious. “Don’t take him lightly, whatever you do.”

“What the hell kind of name is Jimmy Havoc?” Sasha asks scornfully.

“When we catch him, you can ask him,” Will snipes back.

“Children,” Zack says, rolling his eyes.  
  
“And the other killer?” Barrett asks.  
  
Candice nods. “She’s American. Started out in Kentucky, went to college in D.C., studied economics, graduated and promptly fell off the map. I haven’t been able to find out _exactly_ where she went in that time. But what I _think_ happened is that around three years ago, she met Havoc and they teamed up. Unlike Havoc, she actually does go by her birth name, which is-” and she pins another photo to the board, “Leva Bates.”  
  
The camera switches to the new photo, which shows a pretty white woman with black hair and blue eyes, wearing a neat ensemble in blue. Unlike Havoc, she doesn’t stand out at all.  
  
“Are they both in it?” Will asks. “Or is one of them the actual killer and the other just an accomplice?”  
  
Candice shakes her head. “They’re both in it. I don’t know whether one of them got the other into killing or if they were both into it and they just happened to team up, but they’re equally deadly.”  
  
“They look similar,” Bayley comments. “Same hair, same eyes. Are they related?”  
  
Candice shrugs. “Don’t think so, but it’s possible.”  
  
“Where’d you get the photos?” Barrett asks.  
  
“Took them myself.”  
  
Barrett looks surprised. “You actually got that close to them? Candice, that’s insane.”  
  
Candice just shrugs again. “I was disguised, playing tourist. They never noticed me.”  
  
“All right,” Barrett says, leaning forward. “We have the crimes. We have the killers. What’s your plan?”  
  
Candice grimaces. “I have the colour, make and plates of the car they’re driving right now. I have the photos, the GPS in the car can testify that they were at the dump site at the right time. What I _don’t_ have is any real evidence that ties them to the other crimes. If we let them get away, they’ll probably just get another car and vanish for a while until someone else turns up dead. But if we get them now…”  
  
“We risk not having enough evidence to get a conviction,” Zack says.  
  
Candice looks back at Barrett. “It’s your decision, sir.”  
  
Every eye in the room is on Barrett, who thinks for a while, saying nothing. There’s no background music, and the room is completely silent until he sits up and nods. “We get them now. We charge them only for murdering Jones, unless we get more evidence. Even if we lose them on this, we make everything we know about them known to as many cops as possible, so if any more corpses turn up with similar wounds…”  
  
“They’ll know who’s responsible,” Marty says. “Look, I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade, but hypothetically speaking, what happens if we get them, charge them, they get away and change their M.O.?”  
  
Barrett sucks in a breath and sighs. “We’re gonna have to take that chance.”  
  
The camera pans around to show everyone’s faces. Some are nodding, others are frowning, but nobody’s speaking out against Barrett’s decision.  
  
“So what now?” someone asks.  
  
Barrett gets to his feet. “Candice, go with Bayley and find that car. Christina, see if you can get the autopsy records of those other victims, including the cops. Everyone else, find out as much as you can about Bates and Havoc.”  
  
“They’ll find out that we’re looking for them soon,” Candice comments. “And they’ll come back for us.”  
  
Barrett smiles, showing his teeth. “Good. We won’t have to go too far to get them, then.”  
  
You’re not sure what time it is, but there can’t be much left to this episode. How they wrap it up should be interesting.  
  
  
  
  
The screen cuts to one of those ‘lots of time passes’ screens, showing the sun rapidly moving from around noon to nightfall. It then swaps to an overhead shot of the highway, showing the green SUV pulling into the crowded parking lot of a motel. The driver parks it, opens the door and emerges, and you see that she’s Leva Bates.  
  
The passenger side door opens and Jimmy Havoc emerges, stretching a little after what was obviously a long drive. He looks over at Bates and says something you can’t quite hear, and she laughs.  
  
A second later, the door to one of the motel rooms opens and Will and Marty run out, guns pointed at Bates and Havoc. Zack and Sasha climb out of one of the other cars, guns aimed and ready. There’s a bunch of regular cops accompanying them, streaming out of the rooms and from behind cars. Havoc and Bates freeze, hands up, glancing at each other.  
  
The camera lingers on the sight of Bates and Havoc surrounded, and then the screen fades to black, the words ‘To Be Continued’ appearing.  
  
Holy shit, that was _awesome_.  
  
You hear some of the other fans talking quietly, and then the screen lights up again: “ _Previously, on Boston P.D.…”_  
  
A short recap of the episode plays, and then the credits roll. This is gonna be so damn good.

  
The episode starts with the team standing in front of a TV screen, the visual split into two screens, each viewing one of the captive killers. Both are seated quietly at their respective table, neither looking around or moving much.  
  
“They’ve been stewing for over an hour now,” Marty comments.  
  
Zack looks distracted, which is probably why he actually answers Marty without using any sarcasm or anger. “They can stew a while more. What have we found?”  
  
“Pretty much nothing on Havoc,” Sasha says. “I’ve checked everywhere I can think of. The guy’s like a ghost, he just fades in and out. I went downtown, asked a few guys I know who collect information. All they’d tell me is that nobody knows much about him, but anyone who’s heard of him thinks he’s bad news. They said that all anyone knows about Bates is that she’s his partner in crime.”  
  
“I rang a lot of people in Maryland and D.C.,” Will says. “Bates was a model student, nice person, no criminal record, nobody had anything bad to say about her. She told everyone she was working in another state after she graduated, and nobody’s heard from her since. She’s got friends and family who are worried sick about her.” He grimaces. “I didn’t have the heart to tell them why we were looking for her.”  
  
“I called and emailed some old friends back home,” Marty says. “Jimmy Havoc was a very prominent figure in London’s underworld, mostly working as an enforcer for various unsavoury individuals, but things went very wrong for him a few years ago. A couple of backstabbing partners, some deals that went wrong, and lo and behold, his choices were fleeing the country or staying and probably getting killed. Nobody back home has heard anything of him since, and from what I gathered, they’re all thinking that it’s good riddance. And when I told them he’s been on a murder spree, nobody was surprised- but they were surprised when I said he had a female accomplice. Apparently Havoc usually works alone, or if he works with someone, it’s for a very short time- one job, never more.”  
  
“I went over the autopsy records,” Christina says. “Candice was right, they’re pretty much identical if you know what to look for. Bates and Havoc seem to be choosing their victims at random. They abduct them and torture them over several days, then they finally kill them and dump the body. Changing the kind of torture, using different dump sites and picking victims at random seems to be what’s kept most cops from linking the murders, especially since once they’ve killed someone in a certain state, they don’t kill there again.”  
  
“I’ve been checking the records,” Bayley says. “All in all, I’ve found sixteen crimes that match the pattern in the US and Canada, including the Jones case. They seem to pick states at random, too. There’s no rhyme or reason to the order.”  
  
“So from what we know,” Zack says slowly, “it looks like Havoc and Bates met at some point and either he turned her onto killing, or he’s been forcing her to help him.”  
  
“Either way, it’s odd,” Marty comments. “Havoc used to work as an enforcer; now he’s just killing people for seemingly no reason. He mostly used to work alone; now he has a partner. Something changed.”  
  
“So why Bates?” Sasha asks. “I mean, she’s really, really average. As far as we know, she wasn’t a criminal. Why would Havoc team up with her?”  
  
Marty sighs. “I can only think of two reasons: as unlikely as it sounds, maybe Havoc actually fell for her and didn’t want to leave her behind.”  
  
“So he’s forcing her to help him,” Will concludes.  
  
“Or,” Marty says, thinking about it, “maybe it’s the other way around. Maybe Bates fell for Havoc and refused to let him leave without her. Maybe she’s the Harley Quinn to his Joker.”  
  
Zack raises his eyebrows and shrugs. “I guess it’s possible.”  
  
“What’s the other reason?” Christina asks.  
  
“This is also unlikely,” Marty admits, “but maybe Bates isn’t as angelic as we think. A lot of serial killers live normally for years with nobody, family, friends, neighbours, noticing anything amiss. Most of them start with animals and work their way up to people. Bates could be a budding criminal who just happened to meet an expert, and she somehow got him to bring her along.”  
  
“Also possible,” Zack admits. “But unlikely.”  
  
“Well, hey, why don’t we just ask them?” Will asks simply.  
  
Sasha shrugs and nods. “Good idea. How should we do it?”  
  
“You and I will take Bates,” Zack replies. “Will, Marty, you two take Havoc. He might react better to a couple of English guys.”  
  
“Can’t I-” Candice starts.  
  
“No,” Barrett says from the doorway. “You cannot.”  
  
Everyone turns to look at him, and he folds his arms. “I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news: you quit, Candice. You have no official standing here. You can watch, but you can’t interrogate either of them.”  
  
Candice opens her mouth to argue, but falls silent and nods.  
  
“Good,” Barrett says. “Why are you all just standing there?”  
  
Everyone snaps to it and leaves, leaving Barrett standing there, smiling.  
  
  
  
  
The scene cuts to Zack and Sasha outside the door of the first interrogation room, about to go in.  
  
“How do you want to do this?” Zack asks.  
  
“Let me talk first,” Sasha says. “I’ll be bad cop.”  
  
Zack smiles a little. “If you want to be.”  
  
Sasha rolls her eyes at him and opens the door.  
  
Unlike most suspects, Leva Bates doesn’t look up or start. Instead, she continues to stare down at the table, lost in her own world.  
  
“Ms Bates?” Zack tries.  
  
No response.  
  
“Hello?”  
  
Still no response.  
  
Sasha slams her hand down on the table and shouts “Hey!” It works: Bates looks up, startled, and rubs her eyes.  
  
Sasha glares at her a little and mutters “Finally.” She sets the folder she was carrying down on the table and sits down.  
  
Bates doesn’t speak; instead, she glances from Sasha to Zack once and then focuses on Sasha. She seems absent-minded, adrift in her own thoughts, entirely harmless.  
  
“Your name is Leva Bates?” Sasha asks.  
  
A nod.  
  
“You’re from Kentucky?”  
  
Another nod.  
  
“You went to college in D.C.?”  
  
A third nod.  
  
“You’ve been missing for the past three years,” Zack comments from the corner of the room, where he’s been leaning against the wall. “A lot of people are worried about you. Your parents, your friends, your old classmates…”  
  
Bates looks up at him, but she says nothing.  
  
“You graduated and then you just fell off the map,” Sasha says, almost angry. “Why?”  
  
Bates licks her lips and then answers, her voice surprisingly soft and meek. “It’s not a crime.”  
  
“No,” Zack says calmly. “It’s not. But when someone just vanishes, people get concerned. It’s not exactly common. Any particular reason why you just dropped everything and vanished?”  
  
Bates looks at him, but she doesn’t reply.  
  
“Did Havoc tell you to?” Sasha asks.  
  
Bates’ eyes widen, but she doesn’t otherwise react.  
  
“You had a normal life, then you met Havoc and threw your life away,” Sasha says, her tone accusatory. “Let me guess, you fell for him and he made you leave everything behind before he’d let you stay with him.”  
  
Bates closes her eyes, but again, she stays silent.  
  
“That’s just pathetic, if you ask me,” Sasha says. “He’s scum, he’s not worth throwing everything away for. He probably just sees you as a tool, not even a person.”  
  
Bates opens her eyes and stares at Sasha levelly. “Nobody asked you.”  
  
“We went over the GPS in your car,” Zack says. “Turns out your car was at a certain spot on a highway outside Boston when the body of Victor Jones was dumped there, in the early hours of this morning.”  
  
Sasha opens the folder and spreads several photos of the crime scene in front of Bates, who stares down at them without reacting.  
  
“You got any explanation for that?” Sasha asks. “Because it looks a hell of a lot like you and Havoc killed Jones. If you’ve got another explanation, I’d love to hear it.”  
  
Bates says nothing, and Sasha’s eye twitches.  
  
Oh, you are so glad you're not Bates.  
  
  
  
  
  
The camera cuts to the observation room, where Candice, Will and Marty are watching Zack and Sasha interrogate Bates.  
  
“Aren’t you guys meant to be interrogating Havoc about now?” Candice asks.  
  
“We were hoping Bates would say something we could use against Havoc,” Will explains.  
  
“Doesn’t look like she’s going to,” Candice replies.  
  
“It fits the profile if we go with the idea that Bates was forced to join him for some reason,” Marty comments. “She might be staying silent out of fear that Havoc will hurt or kill her- or maybe her family- if she betrays him.”  
  
“She doesn’t seem afraid,” Will says. “A little angry at what Sasha’s saying, sure, but not afraid. Maybe she’s thinking that Havoc will bust her out.”  
  
“How exactly would he do that, though? It’s not like she got caught and he escaped,” Candice points out.  
  
“No, Will’s right,” Marty says. “Something’s off. I reckon she knows something.”  
  
“Like what?” Candice asks bluntly..  
  
Marty shrugs. “I don’t know.”  
  
Candice sighs. “Right.”  
  
Offscreen, someone calls out. “Ospreay! Captain wants a word.”  
  
Will excuses himself and walks off, leaving Candice and Marty alone.  
  
You’re on the edge of your seat, grinning with anticipation. This should be good.  
  
They stay where they are, watching as Zack and Sasha keep interrogating Bates. For a long while, nobody speaks, until Candice finally breaks the ice, not looking away from the interrogation.  
  
“So,” she says wryly. “You’re Marty Scurll.”  
  
“So,” Marty replies. “You’re Candice LeRae.”  
  
“Zack told me a lot about you,” she says quietly.  
  
“Will told me a bit about you,” he says.  
  
“Did he.”  
  
“He did.”  
  
“Heh.”  
  
It’s like watching a fencing bout, both participants carefully moving around without making any moves that the other could capitalise on. But at the same time, it’s also both nerve-wracking and kind of boring, and you’re not sure how.  
  
“What exactly did Zack tell you about me?”  
  
“Everything.” Candice turns toward him and folds her arms, glaring up at him, and oh, boy.  
  
In return, Marty… smiles. A big, honest, oh-so-sincere smile. “Oh, wonderful. And how much of it was obviously biased against me?”  
  
“How would I know?” Candice asks. “I don’t know your side of the story.”  
  
“Oh, it’s a lot like his,” Marty says breezily. “Except for the bit where I’m the over-the-top, cartoonish villain who jumped at the chance to turn against my partner.”  
  
“With that bun, I’d say you’re already pretty cartoonish,” Candice snipes.  
  
“Oh, I am wounded,” Marty says, pressing a hand to his chest. “Truly.”  
  
“If you’ve got something to say, say it,” Candice orders him.  
  
“Well, just tell me one thing: leaving aside exactly what transpired, what did I do that was so bad? And somehow I don’t think it’s about the sheer numbers involved.”  
  
…what?  
  
“Because as I understand it,” Marty says, taking a step toward Candice, “Zack hates me because I know. But we both have the dirt on each other. And I never held it over him.”  
  
“Liar,” Candice says.  
  
“All right. I did, _once_. And did he tell you the bit about how my job was on the line?” Marty asks, staring into Candice’s eyes.  
  
“I… what?” she asks, looking away.  
  
“I was going to get fired if he didn’t cover for me for a much lesser offence,” Marty says. “I’d covered for him, but he refused to do so for me, even though I’d risked my job to do so for him. So yes, I threatened him. But that’s _all_ I did. I never tried to get him fired, and truth be told, I’d never intended to tell. I just wanted him to do for me what I did for him.”  
  
“He… no, he didn’t mention that,” Candice admits. She looks a little lost, and you can’t blame her.  
  
“Mmm. Classic Zack,” Marty muses. “Then again, he always has been very, very convincing. Especially to those he’s slept with.”  
  
Someone nearby gasps, and you definitely can’t blame them. In fact, you’re practically jumping up and down because _fuck yeah your ship is canon._  
  
Candice looks outraged, but she only gets a couple of words out: “You son of a-”  
  
“For the record, I don’t actually care,” Marty says. “And if you’re wondering, he didn’t tell me. One knows another. And I know that Zack Sabre Jr is a very, very crafty man. Trust me. He’s no angel.”  
  
…holy shit.  
  
“Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Marty says, “I have an interrogation to perform.”  
  
He nods once and walks out, leaving Candice staring after him.  
  
...did that just actually happen?  
  
  
  
  
The camera cuts to Havoc’s room. The door opens and Will and Marty walk in. Unlike Bates, Havoc looks up, and unlike Bates, he actually reacts: his jaw drops.  
  
“Well, well, well,” he says. “Will Ospreay, in the flesh.”  
  
That stops Will and Marty flat.  
  
“Have we met?” Will asks cautiously. “Because I’m pretty sure we haven’t.”  
  
“Oh, no,” Havoc says. His accent is pure English, but it’s also one of the least-threatening accents you’ve ever heard. Might have been a bad call by whoever decided who to cast, unless this guy has hidden talents. “But you’re something of a legend, you know. Especially after that fire.”  
  
Marty turns to Will and raises an eyebrow.  
  
“OK, that? Was an accident,” Will says firmly.  
  
“Hell of an accident,” Havoc says. “I mean, you don’t _accidentally_ set half a street on fire, especially not when that half is full of people trying to kill you.”

…whoa.  
  
Marty looks stunned. “ _Seriously?_ ”  
  
“The fire was an _accident_ ,” Will says through gritted teeth, and somehow you don’t believe him.  
  
“If it was, you do damn good accidents,” Havoc says, applauding a little. “Surely they didn’t send you all the way over here just to deal with little old me, did they?”  
  
“They did not,” Will says flatly. “We both work for Boston P.D. now.”  
  
“We both? Who’s this guy?” Havoc asks, turning to look at Marty.  
  
“That’s beside the point,” Will says. “We have questions that we need you to answer.”  
  
Havoc looks from one man to the other and shrugs, leaning back in his chair. “Ask away.”  
  
“Where were you this morning at three AM?” Will starts.  
  
Havoc shrugs. “Driving. We were in Princeton for most of yesterday.”  
  
“Why travel at night?” Marty asks.  
  
“Because the traffic in the daytime is terrible, to be frank,” Havoc says, sounding like an annoyed art critic looking at a subpar painting.  
  
Will shoots a look at Marty. “He’s got a point.”  
  
“So where were you going?” Marty asks. “Where in Boston?”  
  
“Nowhere in particular,” Havoc says. “We’ve been here for a couple of days, just exploring.”  
  
“Is that right?” Will asks. “So are you two on some kind of road trip?”  
  
“Something like that,” Havoc says. “We met a couple of years ago, and since then, she’s been showing me America.”  
  
“Any real order to it?” Marty asks. “I mean, you’re not just going state by state, are you?”  
  
Havoc shakes his head. “Nope. We just pick a direction and go there.”  
  
“Sounds nice,” Will comments. “How’d you two meet?”  
  
“I happened to be in D.C. around the time she graduated,” Havoc says smoothly. “We met in a bar; she was celebrating. We just clicked.”  
  
“Any idea why she hasn’t contacted her family or friends since then?” Marty asks.  
  
Havoc feigns a look of surprise. OK, you think he’s feigning it. “She hasn’t? That’s news to me.”  
  
Will and Marty exchange a glance before Will continues. “Back to this morning. GPS in your car says you were pulled over on the highway. Any reason why you two were pulled over in that spot?”  
  
“Engine trouble,” Havoc says almost sweetly. “We managed to sort it out, though.”  
  
“Well, I ask,” Will says politely, “because about five metres away, someone dumped a body around that time.”  
  
Havoc’s jaw drops, and it’s so obviously fake that it’s just annoying. “Is that right? Amazing. We never saw anything, we were just focused on fixing the car. Whoever dumped that body must have turned up after we left.”  
  
“I see,” Will answers levelly. “Well, thank you for answering our questions.”  
  
Havoc spreads his hands wide and smiles. “It’s been a pleasure, gentlemen. Truly.”  
  
  
  
  
  
The camera cuts to the entire team standing in the observation room, staring at Havoc.  
  
“Well, that was a waste of time,” Sasha says.  
  
“Every word out of his mouth was a lie,” Marty agrees.  
  
“So why bother keeping it up?” Barrett asks.  
  
“So it’d be very, very apparent that he was lying through his teeth,” Will replies. “And also to show all of you that even if we did cut the crap and ask him the hard questions, there’d be no point because there is no way in hell that he’d tell the truth.”  
  
“What about lying and telling him that Bates confessed?” Barrett asks.  
  
“Wouldn’t work,” Sasha says. “He’s got her so far under his thumb that he’d never believe it.”  
  
“So now what?” Candice asks.  
  
“We have enough evidence to charge them for the Jones killing, but not the others. One is enough. They’re getting moved to the lockup in half an hour,” Barrett says.  
  
“Good,” Zack says. “And then we can all go home.”  
  
“It’s been a hell of a day,” Will agrees.  
  
  
  
  
The camera cuts to the team’s office. Zack is sorting through things on his desk when Candice walks in and sets her duffel bag down with a _thump._  
  
He looks up for a second and then pauses, staring at her. For a long moment, neither speaks, and then he jerks his head at the door. “Close it.”  
  
Candice pulls the door shut and then turns back to Zack, her arms folded.  
  
“You don’t look happy,” he says quietly.  
  
Candice’s eyes narrow. “So. You and Marty, huh?”  
  
Zack actually flinches. “He told you?”  
  
“Not a lot,” Candice replies. “But he did tell me about how you didn’t cover for him even when he covered for you.”  
  
“That was a mistake on my part,” Zack says quietly.  
  
“Sounds like it,” Candice replies.  
  
Zack gives her a challenging look. “So… what? You want the full story, or are you just gonna stare at me?”  
  
“You can tell me the full story later,” Candice replies. “I just wanted to let you know that you have a lot of explaining to do.”  
  
“I know,” Zack says quietly.  
  
“Good,” Candice says firmly. She turns around and walks out without further ado, leaving Zack staring after her.  
  
He remains still for a few seconds and then sighs. “Jesus.”  
  
“Excuse me?” Christina asks from the door, a ridiculously pink lollipop in her hand.  
  
“Oh. Hey, Christina.”  
  
“Zack,” she says pointedly. “What was that about?”  
  
“I… oh, screw it,” he says with a sigh. “Can I shoot you a hypothetical question?”  
  
“Sure.”  
  
“Say you have a really close friend who drops off the face of the earth for around a year. Then they get back, and they find out something you hadn’t told them that requires a lot of explaining. So you offer to explain it, and they just say ‘You can explain later’ and leave. Does that make any sense to you? Because it sure doesn’t to me.”  
  
“Candice.”  
  
“Yeah,” Zack says. “Candice.”  
  
“Look, Zack, she’s had a really, really long day. She’s not screwing with you, she just needs time. Try tomorrow,” Christina says. “Once she’s actually had the chance to get some sleep and process everything.”  
  
Zack shrugs. “If you say so.”  
  
“At least it’s all over now,” Christina muses. “She can put it behind her and move on.”  
  
“It’s not over yet,” Zack says quietly.  
  
Christina looks at him sharply. “Huh?”  
  
“Old saying I heard once,” Zack tells her. “The mission isn’t over until you’re sitting in the bar, on your second round. We’ve got Bates and Havoc, but they haven’t been convicted yet.”  
  
“Don’t be paranoid,” Christina says playfully, giving him a punch to the shoulder. “You have to look on the bright side once or twice.”  
  
“I just try not to take things for granted,” Zack replies.  
  
Christina shrugs. “Fair enough. Look, I’m heading down to the garage, you done here?”  
  
Zack glances at his desk and nods. “Pretty much.”  
  
“Well, come on, then,” Christina says. Zack nods and gets up, follows her out of the office and shuts the door behind him.  
  
The camera zooms out as they walk through the hall, stopping on the view of the elevator doors closing behind them. The camera then switches to the door opening, revealing the garage.  
  
Oh, shit.  
  
The police car used to transport people has a broken windshield, its doors hanging open. Broken glass litters the ground, and two cops lie dead, blood pooling around the corpses. Zack and Christina trade a look and bolt out of the elevator, each going to one of the bodies. They briefly check for signs of life, then look back at each other and shake their heads.  
  
“What _happened_ here?” Christina asks, stunned.  
  
The elevator sounds again, and Candice bolts out and freezes, looking around frantically. “Damn it!”

“Candice?” Zack asks, getting up. “What the hell happened?”  
  
“It was Bates and Havoc,” she says, taking short breaths. “They were getting transferred to the car when they broke free. They had knives, Zack, they killed the cops.”  
  
“So they’re gone?” Zack asks anxiously. “But… how do you know?”  
  
“I was there,” Candice replies, looking exhausted. “They were going to attack me, but… but Marty threw me back into the elevator,” she says.  
  
Oh, you don’t like where this is going.  
  
“He’s not here. They must have taken him,” Candice says, gripping Zack’s arm urgently. “We’ve gotta find them. They’ve got Marty, Zack.”  
  
“Fuck,” someone says, and you nod fervently.  
  
Zack’s eyes widen in disbelief, and the camera cuts to a police car racing along the highway. Bates is at the wheel, her eyes narrowed with concentration, and Havoc’s in the back seat, a knife in his hand, staring down at the unconscious form of Marty Scurll. The screen goes black.  
  
_Fuck._  
  
  
  
  
“Get every cop in this state out there looking for the police car,” Barrett’s ordering when the screen brightens again. “You’ve got the make and plates? Good. Make sure they all know that these two are armed, they’re holding a cop hostage and they’ve killed cops before. Got it? All right.”  
  
He hangs up and turns to Bayley, who’s standing behind him. “What is it?”  
  
“We’ve got the security camera footage,” she says, and you wince: it’s the first time since the season two finale that Bayley has looked upset. Nobody likes it when Bayley’s upset. “Come see.”  
  
Barrett nods and follows her over to Sasha’s desk, where the team and Christina are staring at the computer.  
  
“What have we got?” he asks.  
  
In turn, Sasha hits a button and the camera zooms in to show the footage.  
  
It’s grainy, black and white, but it’s easy to make out what happens. Bates and Havoc stand off to one side, both handcuffed, while one of the cops drives the car up to them. Marty’s standing by the elevator with Candice, who turns away and hits the elevator button. The cop gets out of the car and walks around to Havoc… who breaks free of his handcuffs and punches the cop in the face.  
  
“How the hell did he do that?” Will asks. 

Nobody has a reply for him.  
  
On screen, Candice turns around, horrified, and the other cop lunges at Bates, who steps left, grabs the cop’s chin and carves a long line across his throat with a slim blade, blood gushing. You shudder.  
  
“She hit the jugular,” Sasha comments softly.  
  
“They must have hidden those knives well,” Will says. “The guys with us searched them and didn’t find anything.”  
  
“Someone’s getting fired for that,” Barrett snaps.  
  
Bates steps away and just watches the cop’s body fall to the ground, not moving. Havoc throws the other cop onto the car, the windshield shattering under him. The cop tries to move, but Havoc pulls him down, grabs him by the hair and stabs him in the eye. He pulls away and laughs, his face a broad grin.  
  
Most of the team are horrified at that, and you can’t blame them. You’re a tad nauseous yourself.  
  
“Why didn’t Marty fire?” Sasha asks. “Candice gave up her service pistol, but Marty…”  
  
Will groans. “He would have emptied it as soon as he came off duty.”  
  
“How do you know?” Candice asks.  
  
“Because so do I,” Will replies. “In England, most cops aren’t issued guns.” He sighs. “Marty’s never been comfortable with guns. Especially not loaded guns.”

Zack twitches.  
  
“So he was unarmed,” Barrett says. “Candice, what the hell were you doing there?” 

“I didn’t know they were going to be there,” she says quietly. “I was just going to leave, anyway…”  
  
Onscreen, the four just stare at each other for a long second, nobody moving. Then Marty grabs Candice and physically throws her off-screen. A second later, Bates lunges at him and hits him with something, knocking him out.  
  
“Damn it,” Will hisses.  
  
Bates and Havoc stare at each other for a long moment. There’s a short bit of dialogue, though you can’t make out what they’re saying. Bates then drops to one knee and grabs the fallen handcuffs. She handcuffs Marty’s hands behind his back, turns and points to something on the other side of the garage.  
  
“They needed a working car,” Bayley says quietly, all joy gone from her tone. Fuck, you hate it when she sounds like that.  
  
Havoc hauls Marty up and drags him across the floor. For a few seconds, nothing happens, and then one of the police cars takes off.  
  
“So what do we do now?” Zack asks.  
  
“All of you, keep up to date with the search,” Barrett orders. “The moment they find that car, you tell me. Understand?”  
  
The team nods.  
  
“Get going.”  
  
  
  
  
The screen goes black, then starts brightening, the colour in two big circles, everything blurry. It then switches to show Marty, blinking repeatedly as he wakes up.  
  
The camera follows his movements as he looks around: he’s in what looks like an abandoned warehouse, lying on a wooden bench. There’s not much in the building except a few more benches and some tables.  
  
A few metres away sits a car; a blue SUV, not the police car. Bates and Havoc stand in front of it, kissing passionately. There’s something disturbing about it, and after a second, you figure out what it is: their movements are very intimate, to the point that you almost feel like an intruder.  
  
Marty closes his eyes and slumps back onto the bench, but the movement draws his captors’ attention.  
  
Bates steps away from Havoc and smiles. “Oh, look at that,” she says. “Our new friend’s woken up.” She’s confident and focused, the opposite of the woman in the interrogation room, but there’s something distinctly _off_ about her.  
  
“Excellent,” Havoc says jovially. “It’s about time, too. What the hell did you hit him with?”  
  
“The hilt of my knife,” Bates says, sounding a little annoyed.  
  
“You sure? From the time span, I’d say you hit him with a hammer,” Havoc snarks back.  
  
“Oh, for-”  
  
“Look, we don’t have time for this,” Havoc says. “We’ve got work to do.”  
  
“That’s true,” Bates comments, sounding a little excited. “Can I start? I’ve never had a cop before.”  
  
“You’ve killed five cops,” Marty says without opening his eyes. “Two of them a short while ago.”  
  
“Yeah, but they were boring, they don’t count,” Bates replies like she’s talking about chess games or something. “Over in a second, no time to really get into it. This time’s gonna be more fun.”  
  
“Oh, good,” Marty says glumly. “Just what I always wanted.”  
  
“We’re not gonna kill you, Marty,” Havoc says. Marty’s eyes snap open and his head jerks up, and Havoc smiles. “Yeah, I know who you are. You put my friends away. Paul Robinson? Isaac Zercher? Ring any bells?”  
  
“Those psychopaths? They broke the law,” Marty replies.  
  
“Like I give a damn,” Havoc replies flatly.  
  
“Unfortunately for your friends, it’s my job to give a damn,” Marty responds, and you wonder if he’s trying to get himself killed. “Sucks to be them.”  
  
Havoc waves a hand. “Beside the point. Look, Marty- can I call you Marty?- like I said, we’re not gonna kill you.”  
  
“What? Oh, come on,” Bates says, annoyed, fingering the blade of the knife in her hand. “I really wanted this one. I bet he’s one of the ones who _suffer manfully_ and won’t let themselves scream. They’re always fun.” Her eyes light up, and you shudder, recoiling a little.  
  
Havoc strides over to Marty and grabs him by the hair, pulling him upright. “You’re a smart man, Marty Scurll,” he says, actually smiling.  
  
Marty manages to not react to the pain, despite his eyes watering. “How so?”  
  
“You got Candice LeRae out of the way,” Havoc says. “Made us take you and not her.”  
  
Marty says nothing.  
  
“Then again,” Bates says with a shrug, “she’s pretty smart too. I didn’t even know she was a cop until today. And this whole time, she was spying on us? Damn. I gotta admit, that takes skill. I remember, I saw her a couple of times before, but I never even thought she could be spying on us.”  
  
Marty shrugs.  
  
“Cat got your tongue?” Havoc asks.  
  
“I’d never met her before today,” Marty admits.  
  
Havoc smiles like a shark. “Is that right?”  
  
  
  
  
The camera cuts to the office: Candice is curled up in Marty’s chair, fast asleep. Zack and Sasha are at their computers, as is Will, but he keeps shooting looks over at Candice.  
  
“What is it?” Zack finally asks, turning to Will.  
  
“Doesn’t feel right,” Will mutters. “That’s Marty’s chair.”  
  
“It’s her chair,” Zack says. “She was there first.”  
  
“But she left,” Will replies. “It’s Marty’s chair now.”  
  
“If you’ve got a point to make, Will, I suggest you make it very quickly,” Zack says, standing up and folding his arms.  
  
“It’s… damn, I don’t even know,” Will replies. “It’s like, first it’s you, me, Sasha and Candice. Then Candice leaves and we get Marty. Then Candice comes back and Marty gets kidnapped. Spot opens up, spot gets filled, spot gets forced open so it gets filled.”  
  
“The hell is your point?”  
  
“He’s my partner,” Will says flatly. “He’s one of us, no matter what _you_ think. And he’s not just her temporary replacement.”  
  
Oh, Jesus. This is not gonna end well.  
  
Zack reacts entirely predictably: he grabs Will by the shirt and shoves him up against the wall.  
  
“Zack!” Sasha shouts, jumping to her feet.  
  
“He got to you too, huh?” Zack shouts into Will’s face. “What lies did he tell you, Will? What did he say about me?”

Oh, for the love of…  
  
Will doesn’t bother responding. Instead… oh, God. He punches Zack in the stomach. Zack recoils, wheezing, and Will sucks in a breath and takes a step away.  
  
“Oh, sorry, Zack,” Will says sarcastically. “I didn’t realise that actually caring about my partner and not falling over myself to get Candice to replace him made me a member of the Great Marty Scurll Conspiracy, which only exists to do you down. You egocentric dickhead.”

Somehow, you doubt that they’ll be allowed to keep that last part in the final product.  
  
“Will!” Sasha exclaims, shoving her way in between them.  
  
“I’m sick of this, Sasha,” Will snaps. “Ever since Marty arrived, Zack’s done nothing but mope around and bitch about how everyone hates him and Marty’s only here to make him suffer. I’m sick of it!” He steps around her and hauls Zack upright. “Listen to me, Zack: this is not about you! He is not here for you! And right now, _my partner_ \- you know, the one _you_ made _me_ switch to because of _your_ problems- is probably being tortured to death by a pair of psychopaths, so grow up, for Christ’s sake! I don’t care what you think, _I_ have a _friend_ to save, and you can throw all the tantrums you like, because here’s the thing: I don’t know what the hell your problem is, and what’s more, _I don’t care!_ ”

You seriously consider applauding.  
  
“What’s going on?” Candice asks, blinking heavily and rubbing her eyes.  
  
“I don’t give a damn,” Barrett snaps, storming in and glaring at all of them. “Whatever you’re doing, stop it, we don’t have time for this. We’ve found them.”  
  
Sasha and Candice exchange a quick glance, and then get up.  
  
  
  
  
  
The screen cuts to Bayley’s lab, where the team is gathered around her computer.  
  
“A few minutes ago, the report came in that the stolen police car was found in the parking lot of the same motel where Bates and Havoc were arrested,” Bayley starts. She hits a few buttons, and the computer screen cuts to a security camera, which shows the police car pulling into the lot. “As you can see, Bates and Havoc went into room 112, came out with some suitcases and loaded them into that car right there.” She points to an SUV a few slots away. “Then they moved Marty to that SUV and took off. Police went over the hotel room and found nothing.” She hits a few more buttons, and the screen changes to show a GPS tracker on a map. “The SUV has GPS. It’s currently parked…” and she points to a flashing red dot, “…right there, and has been for maybe half an hour.”  
  
“You’re a legend, Bayley,” Zack says, kissing her on the cheek. Bayley blushes and smiles, and the team bolt out of the room.  
  
Once they hit the garage, Zack stops. “Candice, you’re with me. Will, you’re with Sasha.”  
  
Will shoots him a glare, but before he can say anything Sasha grabs his hand and pulls him away.  
  
  
  
  
The screen cuts to the warehouse. Havoc’s sitting on one of the benches, doing something on a laptop, while Bates is standing over Marty, just staring at him, still holding her knife. God knows how he’s not reacting- she’s unnerving as hell. It’s the emotionless way she’s staring at him, her clear blue eyes making you think of a doll. She almost looks like an android.  
  
“I gotta admit,” Marty says, “you’re a hell of an actress.”  
  
“You’re not trying to butter me up, are you?” she asks archly. “Because if you are, it won’t end well for you.”  
  
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Marty replies gallantly. “I’m just saying, you had us all convinced that he’d forced you into this.”  
  
She purses her lips, staring down at the floor. “Jimmy never forced me to do anything.”

You’re not sure whether to believe her or not.  
  
“Good for him,” Marty mutters. “So why do this? Why kill all those people?” 

She looks up sharply, her stare intense. “You don’t understand. It’s necessary.”

“Then help me understand,” Marty urges. “ _Why?_ ”

Bates pauses for a long moment, and then finally answers, her voice becoming more and more fervent. “This world… it’s filthy. These _people_ … they’re diseased. Unclean. Their souls are black and twisted. They have no real grasp of kindness or compassion. Instead, they just slash their way through life, inflicting God knows how much pain on the true innocents. I can’t stand by and let that happen. Something _must_ be done. This world _must_ be cleansed.”

Oh, Jesus.

“So why only kill a few people?” Marty asks, his voice steady. “Sixteen crimes in over two years, besides the cops? How’s that work?”

“There’s no meaning in just mowing them down,” she replies, running her fingers over the blade of her knife. “It’s like squashing a few bugs: doesn’t mean a damn thing. You’re not killing the hive, and nobody’s going to care. But one at a time… there’s power there. Pour the blood on the ground and let the earth drink it in. Blood for blood, let the wounds heal.”

She’s completely fucking insane. Her eyes are shining with her purpose, and you have this sudden urge to run as far as you can.

Marty says nothing, and Bates tilts her head curiously. Then she smiles. “Besides, what makes you think that the ones you found were the only ones?”

…well, shit.  
  
“Leva,” Havoc calls. 

Bates glances up and walks over to him, her hand clenched around the knife’s hilt. “What?”  
  
“Take a look at this,” he says, pointing to the screen.  
  
She leans in toward it and frowns. “Damn.”  
  
“We should move,” Havoc says.  
  
“Got it,” she replies. “I’ll get started.”  
  
She walks back over to Marty and smiles. “Your friends will be here soon, so it looks like we’ll have to say goodbye for now.”  
  
“I’d say it’s been a pleasure,” Marty mutters, “but that would be a lie.”  
  
“Oh, same,” she replies carelessly. “I mean, I didn’t even get to make you bleed... yet.”  
  
Marty doesn’t respond, but you see his knuckles turn white.  
  
She leans in close. “But before we leave, there’s one thing I want you to do for me.”  
  
“And what would that be?” Marty asks, visibly tense.  
  
Bates smiles and lowers her mouth to his ear, almost whispering. “Tell that little Canadian whore that she’s next.” 

You resist the urge to swear loudly.  
  
  
  
  
The camera cuts to Zack’s car, with Candice sitting in the passenger seat.  
  
“I missed this,” she admits.  
  
“So did I,” Zack replies. “Not to insult Sasha or anything, but… she’s not you.”  
  
Candice just nods.  
  
They drive on in silence, and it’s a little while before Candice breaks the silence again. “Are we going to talk about it, or…?”  
  
“What, me and Marty?”  
  
“No. I mean, what happens now? Do you want me back on the team?”  
  
“Of course I do,” Zack says. “But it’s not up to me. I mean, you quit, and we haven’t even found Marty yet.”  
  
“Yeah, good point,” Candice says. After a second, she speaks again. “Do you think I should rejoin the force?”  
  
“I know I’d love it if you did,” Zack replies. “But it’s up to you.”  
  
“I know I want to,” she says quietly. “I missed you all so much. But I don’t know if I can come back- if Barrett would even let me…”  
  
“Candice,” Zack says after a long moment, “there’s something I think I should-”  
  
Zack’s phone rings, and you wish you could reach into the screen and throw the fucking thing out the window.  
  
The pair exchange annoyed glances, and then Candice hits the answer button. “Hello?”  
  
_“It’s me, Bayley. Havoc and Bates just left the warehouse.”_  
  
Zack mutters a curse. “Any way you can tell if Marty’s with them?”  
  
_“I don’t think he is.”_  
  
“Thanks,” Candice mutters. She hits the end button, and she and Zack stare at each other grimly.  
  
“I didn’t want this to happen,” Zack says, but you can’t tell who he’s trying to convince. “I _never_ wanted this to happen.”  
  
“I never thought you did,” she replies, and he blinks, startled, like he forgot she was there.  
  
They turn right sharply and pull up in front of the warehouse. “Let’s go.”

 

Instead of the warehouse, though, the camera cuts to Will’s car. Sasha’s driving, and Will’s looking pensive.

The car’s silent for a few seconds until Will speaks up. “Do you think I went too far?”

Sasha flinches. “What?”

“With what I said to Zack.”

Sasha doesn’t hesitate. “No. You were exactly right.”

“I mean, I know I don’t know Marty like Zack does-”

“-but that doesn’t matter, because you’re right, Zack’s been bitching and moaning about it for weeks and I for one am one hundred per cent done with it,” Sasha completes. “Seriously. I mean, I’ve been stuck with him for months, and I can tell you, whenever Marty comes up in the conversation, he starts bitching. It got old _fast_.”

“So why didn’t you say anything?” Will asks.

“Because I’m his partner. I can’t just tell him to grow a pair and shut the hell up if I want things to go any way other than terribly- that, and I don’t even know what happened. You ever share a car with someone you’re fighting with? Not fun.”

“Good point,” Will admits.

They fall silent again, but not for long.

“I missed this,” Sasha says. “It’s been too long.”

Will nods. “Yeah. It has.”

There’s another short stretch of silence, and then Sasha speaks. “Do you think we did the wrong thing? When Zack made everyone switch?”

Will is silent for a long moment, and then he shakes his head. “It was bad enough as it was without us adding to it. I’ve never seen Zack get that upset before.”

“I just wish we knew _why_ ,” Sasha says. “I get that Zack doesn’t want to talk about it, but I just want to know how bad it is.”

“In case Zack’s overreacting?” Will asks.

“In case we’re talking about murder or something,” Sasha says. “If Marty’s a danger to the team, to _us_ -”

“He’s not,” Will says flatly.

“I don’t just mean physically,” Sasha snaps. “If he’s attracting the wrong kind of attention, if having him with us is going to leave us worse off for it, then I want to know. I’m not saying that I’d kick him off the team, but we have a right to know- and I want to be able to _talk_ about it. And face it, Will, you know Zack. Unless he really is overreacting, then whatever Marty did has to have been _really_ bad.”

Will opens his mouth, pauses for a second and then closes it. “I see your point.”

Sasha just nods.

“Of course,” Will says thoughtfully, “there is a chance that maybe Zack’s making this up, or exaggerating, or throwing the blame on Marty to cover for his own part in it.”

Sasha doesn’t react for a long moment, but she finally nods. “It’s possible.”

“Which is why we need to find out what happened,” Will says quietly. “The sooner, the better.”

Instead of responding, Sasha pulls the car over and parks. “But first, we get Marty back.”  
  
Will nods and opens the car door.

 

Candice and Zack are trying to get the doors open when Will and Sasha join them. It takes Will throwing himself at the doors to get them to move at all, and even then it takes more time before they can get past them. Once that’s done, they all race inside, halt momentarily, and then bolt onwards.

The camera abruptly switches to show what they’ve seen, and you bite back a gasp. Someone else exclaims loudly. 

At the far end of the room, Marty kneels like he’s praying. His hands are clasped in front of him, close to his chest, but they’re obscured by something you can’t quite make out, something darkish. As the camera gets closer, you can finally make it out: it’s razor wire, looped around his neck and from there to around his hands, and you soon realise that he can’t lower his hands without strangling himself. He’s visibly shaking, eyes shut, breathing like he’s about to pass out, and there’s blood all over his naked torso.

From there, things devolve into a frenzy of movements, the camera rapidly switching positions, everyone shouting. It’s so rapid it almost makes your head spin. Everything’s chaotic until the camera finally cuts to Sasha dragging the wire away and Marty collapsing into Zack’s arms, tears running down his face.  
  
You’re expecting him to pull away, but instead, Zack drops to his knees and wraps his arms around Marty, embracing him. Marty closes his eyes and just leans against Zack, all his energy gone.

Man, the Marck crowd are gonna be all over this episode.

For a long moment, neither of them speak. Will’s talking loudly on the phone, Sasha’s looking around the warehouse, ignoring her bleeding hands. Only Candice is close enough to hear what happens next.  
  
“She’s insane,” Marty mumbles, his eyes still closed.  
  
“Who is?” Zack asks, nonplussed.  
  
“Bates. She’s gone completely mental. Told me they’d killed more people than we found… told me to tell Candice that she’s next.”  
  
Candice stiffens, her eyes wide. After a second, she gets up and walks away, joining Sasha. Zack stares after her, but he doesn’t get up.  
  
“I missed this,” Marty murmurs, seemingly having not noticed. “I missed you.”  
  
Zack draws in a breath and then sighs. “I missed you, too.”  
  
“I’m sorry,” Marty whispers.  
  
Zack looks away. “So am I.”  
  
His shoulders slump and his head drops, and for a long moment, the two of them just stay there, leaning against each other.  
  
The sound of ambulance sirens gets louder by the second, and the camera slowly pulls back until it’s at the front doors, showing EMTs running across the warehouse floor toward Zack and Marty.  
  
  
  
  
The scene cuts to HQ, where Will and Candice are standing in front of Barrett’s desk. Barrett’s on the phone, but after a few seconds, he puts it down and turns back to them. “Zack and Sasha are at the hospital, keeping an eye on Marty. He’s badly shocked and scratched up to hell and back, but it’s not serious. Sasha’s hands will heal up just fine.”  
  
“Do Zack and Sasha think that Havoc and Bates might come back for Marty?” Will asks, eyes widening.  
  
“Doubt it,” Barrett replies. “They’d have to be mad. We haven’t found any trace of their car. Unless something else turns up, it’s over.”  
  
Candice’s head falls into her hands. “And it was all for _nothing_.”  
  
“Candice…” Barrett starts, but she cuts him off, pacing furiously.  
  
“I quit the force to track them down, I spent a whole goddamn year following them and spying on them, I got the evidence, I came back, I saw them arrested and not only did they get away, they tortured Marty in the process. They won. I _failed_. This whole time, everything I did… it was all for _nothing!_ ” She slams her hand into the wall, looking anguished.  
  
“No, Candice,” Barrett says firmly. “It wasn’t for nothing.”  
  
Candice looks up. “What?”  
  
“They didn’t get away with it,” Barrett says. “For a start, before today, nobody knew who they were or what they’d done. Now _everyone_ knows. They got away today, sure. But we have them killing two cops _on camera_. They won’t get away with _that_. Every cop in this country will know their names and faces. They can run, but sooner or later, _we will catch them_. And we wouldn’t have known any of it if you hadn’t tracked them down.”  
  
Candice closes her eyes for a long moment, and then nods.  
  
Will steps over to her and puts an arm around her. “So now what?”  
  
“There’s nothing more we can do here tonight,” Barrett replies. “Bates and Havoc will undoubtedly be either running or lying low, but either way, they won’t be showing their faces around here any time soon. It’s Thursday night… well, Friday morning. All of you are now officially on a three-day break, including Marty, who should be out of the hospital soon. We’ll discuss things on Monday.”  
  
“What about me?” Candice asks, surprisingly calm.  
  
“Ah, yes,” Barrett says. “About that… I had several rather interesting phone calls from various superiors, all who felt that as a former cop who’d quit under a cloud before vanishing, your word was no longer believable and thus I should take everything you said as extremely suspicious and have you brought in for questioning.”  
  
Candice’s jaw drops, and Will opens his mouth and raises a hand.  
  
“I told them all that I had some bad news for them, which was that I didn’t care.”  
  
Candice blinks. “You said what?”  
  
“Candice, you were one of my best officers,” Barrett replies. “We all know that the charges were ridiculous. And working by yourself, you managed to bring to light the actions of two serial killers who’d killed everyone else who’d investigated them, without them even noticing you. That’s downright heroic, in my opinion.”  
  
“I agree,” Will cuts in.  
  
“And after some firm discussions with said superiors, they eventually agreed with me,” Barrett continues.  
  
You really hope this is going where you think it’s going.  
  
“And so with that in mind, I have been authorised to offer you your job back, with the slate wiped clean,” the captain concludes.  
  
Candice looks shocked. Will looks delighted. You’re grinning.  
  
Hell. Fucking. Yes.  
  
Candice looks from Barrett to Will and back again. “But… what about Marty?”  
  
“That’s part of what we’re going to discuss on Monday,” he replies. “He might request- or be placed on- extra leave, in which case you could easily fill his spot until he returns, in which case we’d then discuss how to progress from there. If he wishes to return to duty immediately, then we’d discuss how things would work from there.”  
  
He leans forward. “So what do you say?”  
  
Candice looks at Will, clearly at a loss. He nods fervently, and Candice finally looks back at Barrett and nods. “All right.”  
  
_Hell. Fucking. Yes._  
  
Barrett beams, reaching over his desk to shake Candice’s hand. “Then it’s done. Welcome back, Candice.”  
  
Candice shakes his hand, and the screen fades to black, the credits appearing seconds later.  
  
Holy fuck, that was _awesome._ And after the last season final, you really needed this.  
  
Season four can’t come soon enough.  
  



End file.
